Central Banking
SNB: immigrants reduce seigniorage
Swiss National Bank study shows increase in immigration reduces seigniorage for banknotes
SNB: rich nation imports deskill developing economies
Swiss National Bank says trade with richer nation depresses relative wage of skilled workers in less developed countries
New York Fed announces QE2 purchase plan
New York Federal Reserve sets schedule for $105 billion-worth of purchases of Treasuries over the next month
Basel III will choke SMEs, say leading bankers
Sands, Ackermann emphasise need for policy that supports small and medium enterprises; reiterate calls for a level playing field under Basel III
IMF: policy prescriptions for Asean 5 economies
Fund study lays out strategy for fiscal retrenchment in Asean 5 economies
Norges Bank’s Qvigstad: monetary policy boards can lead to groupthink
Norges Bank deputy governor Jan Qvigstad says independent monetary policy votes are subject to group pressure
IMF finds persistent debt overhang in Baltic countries
Fund study finds level debt overhang most pronounced in Estonia and Latvia
Italy: Basel II framework left banks defenceless against monetary policy shocks
Bank of Italy study shows higher capital requirements under Basel II did not guard against monetary policy shocks
Islamic finance poses challenges for central banks: Bank of Italy
Bank of Italy study says underdeveloped market for Islamic finance creates problems for central banks and regulators
QE2 criticisms “baffling”: King
Attacks on the Federal Open Market Committee’s latest round of asset purchases meet with scorn from Bank of England governor
Focus on trade rather than stimulus: business leaders to G20
International Chamber of Commerce honorary chair Victor Fung calls on G20 to focus on boosting international trade rather than monetary stimulus to raise growth; currency tensions expected to feature heavily at Seoul Summit
China lifts reserve ratio on fears over inflows
People’s Bank of China raises reserve requirements ratio by 50 basis points in bid to tackle inflationary pressure from capital inflows
King: rebalancing pivotal to Britain’s economic health
Bank of England governor says biggest risk to British growth is external demand; relatively unconcerned by housing market
No single structure for clearing industry: CPSS
Bank for International Settlements report on clearing industry says differences in market structures reflect diverse sets of risks to operations
Palestine launches new RTGS system
Palestine Monetary Authority Real-Time Gross Settlement system allows for developments in online and mobile banking
Quant Congress Europe: Basel III CVA charge political, says Swiss regulator
Finma official hits back at industry criticisms of counterparty risk charge, but concedes political pressure to hurt OTC market is undeniable
SF Fed plays down role of structural unemployment
San Francisco Federal Reserve note supports view that monetary policy can address high US unemployment
Boston Fed names new first vice president
Boston Federal Reserve appoints Federal Reserve Information Technology vice president Kenneth Montgomery as first vice president
Weaker growth led Israel to hold rates
Bank of Israel report shows poor terms of trade led to weaker growth outlook ahead of rate setting meeting
Israel's Fischer: house prices pose threat to financial system
Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer says rising house prices could spur next financial crisis
Emerging markets must rethink exchange rate strategy: Thailand's Trairatvorakul
Bank of Thailand governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul says new era of globalisation will require changes to domestic policy
UK FSA director of financial stability quits
Financial Services Authority's David Strachan will leave role in first quarter of next year; departure adds to growing list of senior figures leaving regulator
IMF research finds new method to model asset prices
Fund study uses a logarithmic linear method to compute risk adjustments in asset price models
RBI reopens second liquidity line to prevent credit squeeze
Reserve Bank of India introduces second liquidity adjustment facility after growth in government savings absorbs liquidity in money markets